Molecular Physiology & Biophysics

I am an international grad student from Spain doing my PhD. at Vanderbilt University. I did my undergrad in biotechnology at University Francisco De Vitoria in Madrid, Spain. My post-baccalaureate training was at Yale University from 2017 to 2019. At Yale I enrolled Dr. Nancy Carrasco’s laboratory and I became interested in understanding the allosteric binding site of NIS. We moved to Vanderbilt University where I started my PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Carrasco. I am trying to understand the mechanism that NIS membrane protein uses to mediate the active transport of Iodide. My project is focused on understanding how the interaction between oxyanions and the allosteric binding site of NIS changes the Iodide transport stoichiometry from electrogenic to electroneutral. I also want to research if there are physiological substrates that interact with NIS allosteric binding site. Finally, I am interested in trying to develop new approaches that allow our lab to elucidate NIS tertiary structure.